"It has been my intention ever since the retirement of Bishop [E. Don] Taylor to appoint an assistant bishop to share the episcopal duties of the diocese with Bishop [Catherine] Roskam and myself," said Sisk in the e-mail. "This appointment was delayed, inevitably, by the financial uncertainty in which we have recently found ourselves. The need did not diminish, however, and now we feel that the time has come when we can safely, if cautiously, proceed."

Smith, Sisk added, will serve the diocese on a quarter-time basis.

Taylor retired in September 2009; since that time the diocese has cut its annual budget by $3 million. The proposed budget for 2011 is $9.6 million, said Allen Barnett, the diocese's chief of finance and operations, in the latest edition of the Episcopal New Yorker.

Smith served as suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Connecticut from 1995-99 and as diocesan bishop from 1999 until retiring earlier this year.

"I have known Bishop Smith as a colleague in the House of Bishops and as a near diocesan neighbor for many years," Sisk said. "I can confidently say that his joining us is as much a reason for joyful celebration for the Diocese of New York as a whole as it is, for myself, a source of personal delight. We are fortunate indeed to have him come among us."